My Blog Has Gravitas...TRUST Me

Finding reliable information on the internet is kind of like reading a vandalized 5th-grade textbook...all the facts are hidden somewhere among the profanity, missing pages, and dirty images.

And unfortunately, this makes it hard for most young students to promote their blogs. Search engines now have sophisticated web crawlers that will ignore your blog if it doesn't have enough gravitas - blogravitas - developed through content, hits, links, feeds, updates...whatever.

But a lack of blogular authority is a vicious cycle. If a brilliant site is ranked 45,234 on a particular topic, it's not going to earn the readership necessary to boost its stats. Consequently, bloggers are forced to prostitute their sites like the greedy parents of child stars.

Rather than just ideas and internet access, blogging now requires a strategic marketing plan:

1) Blog Image and Brandmark - Bloggers must now differentiate themselves from the sea of other blogspot, typepad, and wordpress users. There's an article in Brandweek that points out the importance of a site logo. While it refers to small-business websites rather than blogs, there really isn't much of a difference anymore. Bill Haig cites the idea of "thin slicing" mentioned in Blink, which suggests an ability to correctly make split-second decisions. Apparently, it only takes eight seconds to decide whether or not a website is worth our time - how good is your brand image?

I have minimal photoshop experience and a shaky hand, but I still managed to create my header, logo, and favicon - let me know what you think? Or did you leave my blog after 8 seconds?

2) Strategic Alliances - Unless your site appears in the blogroll of countless friends, it may be destined to remain in the dregs of the google rankings - alongside naughty school girls and pet-appreciation sites. The more links going in and out of your blog, the more likely it is to generate traffic.

I'm not sure what type of etiquette is required when soliciting link-swaps, but I suggest asking friends, family, and classmates before approaching experienced members of your field - it's not just search engines that judge blogravitas.

3) Multi-channel Promotion - Even with a great brand and several friends, your blog still isn't likely to generate much outside traffic. That's where sites like Feed Burner come in: soap-box promotion. It not only encourages XML subscriptions, but also provides public blog updates, tracking info, and other special features. Basically, burning your feed is like creating 50 new roads that lead directly through your site - nice.

But you can't stop there - you also need to submit your blog to other communities and directories. While most readers wont subscribe to a blog full-time, they will read entries that pop up across the internet. And the thing is, sites like Technorati, and Del.icio.us provide rankings that can be a key part of developing blogravitas.

4) Positioning and Differentiation - Any business student knows the basics of branding. I first learned these basics when my dad suggested reading Differentiate or Die. Since then, Jack Trout has been an essential. But it's not just the theory that makes his books brilliant - it's their accessibility. Malcolm Gladwell is king of this category, but you can also add Stephen D. Levitt (Freakonomics) to this list.

The books of Trout, Gladwell, and Levitt are like The DaVinci Code for marketing nerds: unique ideas, short chapters, and an impressively easy language.

You may be familiar with pedantic writing (the literary criticism of insecure professors) - it's painful to read. very painful. Reading should be easy and enlightening - always. And as a blogger finds their voice, it's important to find a balance between formal and colloquial writing. As I struggle to fine-tune my voice as a writer, I've focused on developing a more conversational tone; Gladwell would not suggest solipsism and uptight, MLA grammar (some overcompensate by repeatedly using the - dash -).

Ultimately, writing style is an important part of blog differentiation. If you sound like a douchebag, your only readers will be other douchebags. Use your voice to differentiate your blog from those Harvard Business School kids (see link above).

5) Quality Product - Launching a blog is like launching any other product into the market - if it sucks, it'll be gobbled-up by the competition. Unless you have something to offer other readers, keep your garbage off the internet.